“We are formed by what we desire”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Don't forget this, too: Rumors aren't interested in the unsensational story; rumors don't care what's true.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“And when you love a book, commit one glorious sentence of it-perhaps your favorite sentence-to memory. That way you won't forget the language of the story that moved you to tears.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Gender mattered a whole lot less to Shakespeare than it seems to matter to us.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“My dear boy, " Miss Frost said sharply. "My dear boy, please don't put a label on me - don't make a category before you get to know me!”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“He was one of those people things came easily to, but he did little to demonstrate that he deserved to be gifted.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“All I say is: Let us leave les folles alone; let's just leave them be. Don't judge them. You are not superior to them - don't put them down.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Most places we leave in childhood grow less, not more, fancy.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“You can learn a lot from your lovers, but-for the most part-you get to keep your friends longer, and you learn more from them.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Novels are just another kind of cross-dressing, aren't they?”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“The time to read Madame Bovary is when your romantic hopes and desires have crashed, and you will believe that your future relationships will have disappointing - even devastating - consequences.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“It happens to many teenagers-that moment when you feel full of resentment or distrust for those adults you once loved unquestioningly.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“You live your life at the time you live it -- you don't have much of an overview when what's happening to you is still happening.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“It doesn't really matter who said it - it's so obviously true. Bevore you can write anything, you have to notice something.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“It is exhausting to be seventeen and not know who you are.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“...where our desires "come from"; that is a dark, winding road.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“...friends were more important than lovers - not least for the fact that friendships generally lasted longer than relationships.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“...there's a limit to enduring admiration being a substitute for love.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“I'll bet every fucking one of your angels is going to be terrifying!”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“That's okay," I said. "We're writers. We make things up.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“By '95 - in New York, alone - more Americans had died of AIDS than were killed in Vietnam.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Nostalgia!" Miss Frost cried. "You´re nostalgic!" She repeated. "Just how old are you, William?" She asked.
"Seventeen, " I told her.
"Seventeen!" Miss Frost cried, as if she'd been stabbed. "Well, William Abbott, if you're nostalgic at seventeen, maybe you are going to be a writer!”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“I'm just a woman with a penis!" she would say, her voice rising.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Of course, everyone is intolerant of something or someone.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“people can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“I'm sure I'll have more to say about the penis word.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Bill is a fiction writer, but he writes in the first-person voice in a style that is tell-all confessional; in fact, his fiction sounds as much like a memoir as he can make it sound.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“Why do you guys want to take all the mystery away? Isn't the mystery an exciting part of sex?”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
“You should wait, William," Miss Frost said. "The time to read Madame Bovary is when your romantic hopes and desires have crashed, and you believe that your future relationships will have disappointing - even devastating - consequences.”
― John Irving, quote from In One Person
John Irving
Born place: in Exeter, New Hampshire, The United States
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“If you cut off my hands, I'll write with my feet, and if you cut off my feet, I'll write with my nose, and if you cut that off, you may as well cut my whole head off, because no matter how you slice and dice me, you can't control what I think, or what I feel. You can keep me locked up for the rest of my life, however brief that may be. But you will never, ever own me.”
― Rachel Vincent, quote from Menagerie
“You've felt it, haven't you? Those feelings that seem to get so big in your chest, like something is so beautiful it aches?”
― Heather Anastasiu, quote from Glitch
“I may not be "blending in"- but if I'm standing out, at least I feel like I've found a place to stand.”
― Jeff Garvin, quote from Symptoms of Being Human
“I’ve seen his eyes soften and sparkle in the moonlight. I’ve seen a smile crack those lips, heard a laugh ring from that broad chest. And yet, even in those few, untroubled moments, there’s always a certain gravitas to him, like he could stand in the middle of a battle and part the enemy’s line with one cool glare. (McKenzie)”
― Sandy Williams, quote from The Shadow Reader
“I’ve thought about it a lot,” I said. “I think a friend is someone who helps you change for the better. And whether you see them once a day or once a year, if it’s a true friend, it doesn’t matter.”
― Kristin Levine, quote from The Lions of Little Rock
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A Wrinkle in TimeBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
